Encrypt files and folders in Windows Vista

If you have a computer which is shared by many people through their own separate accounts, then you may want to encrypt some of your private documents. Windows Vista provides an easy way to encrypt any file or folder. Here is how you can encrypt files and folders in Windows Vista :

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the file you want to encrypt.

Right click on the file and select Properties from the right-click context menu.

In the file properties window, click on the Advanced button under the General tab as shown :

In the Advanced window, check the checkbox labeled Encrypt contents to secure data as shown :

Click OK to save and encrypt the file.

You can see the color of file name change to green in Windows Explorer, which means it is encrypted.

You can use the same process for encrypting a whole folder. If you move or copy an un-encrypted file into an encrypted folder, then it automatically gets encrypted.